AN/BI 588: End-of-Semester Self Evaluation
Amanda Wu
2023-12-15
Insurmountable Coding Problems
Overall Impression
Although this class was really difficult as I had little to no experience with R and very little knowledge about statistics, I thought this class was really, really valuable in teaching me these statistic skills that I need for future research. I definitely struggled with some of the concepts at times but I think I learned the best by applying the modules and attempting to solve the homework by myself. Although it can be really frustrating, the satisfaction of finishing my coding homework makes me believe that I’ve learned enough of the basics to apply R in different settings, whether in future research or in other classes.
What were you asked to do?
- Homework 1: Push it!
- Homework 2: Titis in the mist …
- Homework 3: Some of my best friends are zombies …
- Homework 4: What’s your malfunction?
- Homework 5: Boots for days!
- Analysis Replication Assignment
- Group Presentation and Statistical Vignette
- Modules
What did you accomplish?
I’ve accomplished every homework assignment and the replication project on time. I also aimed to submit all peer commentaries at least a few days before the assignment is due so my peers can have the time to reflect on their code. Admittedly, I have gotten behind on the modules towards the end of the semester as I committed more time towards the statistical vignette and the replication assignment. However, I always followed along in the modules during class so I would understand the content and I would troubleshoot after class if I had additional questions. The statistical vignette was also finished a few days after the due date as we had to do some adjustments after the first week of presentations. However, I believe Erin had notified you about our progress and we still submitted a finished project before the second week of presentations.
How well did you accomplish them?
The most meaningful assignment has been the replication assignment as it really pushed me to apply the modules and how to replicate statistics without given the code. It was one of the hardest assignments as well as I had to understand someone’s methods and manipulating the data was proven harder than it seems. I was fortunate to have a paper who’s statistical analysis wasn’t overly complicated and they had all their data nicely formatted. It was really difficult initially as I would run into a ton of minuscule errors that seemed obvious but took hours to fix. However, this process really allowed me to learn how to problem solve my code and I felt really accomplished when I saw the final project. I feel as though my replication project reflected the growth I’ve made during this semester with R. Admittedly, I think my group could have presented better on our statistic vignette as I think that might have been lacking when compared to other groups. While we were really detailed with each test, I think we could have done better with expanding upon its applications and applying it towards biological anthropology. Overall, I definitely improved on my workflow and understanding of coding throughout the semester and I’m much more comfortable with R and working with data sources after this class.
How has your understanding of and approach to statistics and project design changed since taking this course?
Before this class, I had very little to no knowledge about statistics and it was intimidating to enter a class with mainly graduate students who had a greater understanding of R and statistics compared to myself. Due to this, I felt more timid and afraid of asking questions which may have restrained my growth in class but it also pushed me to solve my own problems and understand R by myself. This class also helps me with project design and developing my statistical analysis for my research. During the summer as I worked on my UROP project with Professor Knott, I wasn’t able to develop my analysis on the camera trap videos as my knowledge with statistical analysis were really limited. After this class, I hope to revisit the data and apply the inferential statistical methods to further understand the trends and value of the data.
What did you learn from all this?
- Learned how to perform basic descriptive statistics on a data set (Ex: find the mean, SD, CI intervals, etc)
- Learned about Goodness-of-Fit tests and how they are all derived and the different circumstances for each test.
- Learned how to navigate Github, Rstudio, and Rmds to develop projects and interact with data sources.
- Learned about different inferential statistics (Ex: ANOVA, GLMM, Kruskal-Wallis) and how to interpret their results
What did your learn about teamwork in this course? How did the readings on teamwork foster this understanding? How did the teamwork experiences?
Although I’ve had ample experience with group projects, the statistical vignette was different from the other projects I’ve done in the past as I’ve never coded as a group before. It was initially difficult because we weren’t comfortable with making different branches to independently work on the project without accidentally messing up the progress so we had to really coordinate the times we would work on the project and our pulls/pushes. In addition, most of my group didn’t live on campus so scheduling times to meet was a little difficult. We were able to alleviate these issues by meeting over Zoom each week so it would be more convenient to my teammates. In addition, none of my team members were particularly skilled in statistics as well and we all seemed to be on the same level so our work was really evenly distributed and it was really helpful to have their help when troubleshooting my code. In all honesty, I did not focus on the readings as much as I focused on the homework and modules so I did not complete the team work readings. However, if there were team work problems within my group, I would have consulted the readings to foster a collaborative and communicative environment.
How did the Peer Commentary process and Group Project relate, if at all, to what you view as your successes or difficulties in this course?
I thought the peer commentaries were one of the most beneficial aspects of this class because it was really helpful to hear multiple perspectives for each homework assignment. There are numerous ways to solve a problem so I enjoyed seeing how my classmates approached each assignment. I also really liked being able to help my classmates solve an issue that I also troubleshooted because it made me reflect on my own progress and how much I’ve learned in this class. My group thought the peer commentaries were so beneficial that we did our own circle of peer reviews by looking over and commenting on each others part of the vignette before combining each section.
What, if anything, of lasting value do you take away from this experience? If nothing, what would you do differently if you were to start over in this course?
This class was one of my most valuable classes this semester as it taught hard skills that I will need to apply in the future. As a future MPH student planning on having a focus in epidemiology, knowing how to code in R is extremely valuable as it’ll most likely be a program I’ll be using in the future. If I were to take this course again, I think I would sit closer in the front and be less scared of asking questions so I can develop my skills in R more rapidly. In addition, I would attend more office hours and be more adamant about scheduling meetings with the professor so I could have more guidance during the semester. As much as the peer reviews were really helpful, it would’ve been better reassuring to recieve more feedback from the professor throughout the semester so I’d be more confident about my progress in the class.